Now that the regular season has come to an end, the NFL has released each team’s opponent list for the 2011 season. Each team’s schedule is determined by four main factors.

Each team gets a home and away game against their three division opponents.

Each team plays four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle.

Each team plays four teams from another division from the opposite conference on a rotating four-year cycle.

Each team is schedule two intraconference games which is determined from the standings from the previous season (first place team against a first place team, second place team against a second place team, etc.). These games are matched up based off two-same conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season

In 2011, the four teams that play within the AFC North are scheduled to play the teams from the NFC West and the AFC South. Since the Cincinnati Bengals finished at the bottom of the division, they are scheduled to play the last-place teams from the AFC East and AFC West.